P7KS 


The  Heroes  of  Battle  Rock, 


or 


The  Miners'  Reward, 


A  Short  Story  of  Tfiriffino  Interest 


How  a  Smaff  Canon  Done  its  Work. 


Port  Orford,  Oregon,  the  Scene  of  the  Great  Tragedy. 


A  Desperate  Encounter  of  Nine  White  Men  with    Three 

Hundred  Indians.     Miraculous  Escape  After 

Untold  Hardships. 


HISTORICALLY  TRUE. 


Savages  Subdued  and  Rich  Gold  Mines  Discovered. 


Edited  by  Orvii,  Dodge. 


January,  1904. 


Gift  of  C.  A.  Kofol* 


p  8  ? 


]  he   ^lero  of   Battle    nock- 


"I  was  working  in  Portland,  Oregon,  at  tlie  carpenter 
•trade  along  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1851,  when  a  friend  by 
the  name  of  Palmer,  introduced  me  to  ("apt.  Win.  Tichenor, 
who  was  at  that  time  running  an  old  steam  propeller  called 
the  Sea  Gull,  between  Portland,  Oregon,  and  San  Francisco, 
California,  Before  introducing  uie  to  Oapt.  Tichenor,  my 
friend  told  me  that  the  Oapt.  wanted  eight  or  ten  men  to  go 
down  on  the  steamer  with  him  to  a  place  called  Port  Orford 
<on  the  southwest  coast  of  Oregon,  where  be  intended  to 
make  a  settlement,  lay  out  a  town,  and  build  a  road  into  the 
gold  diggings  in  Southern  Oregon  and  that  all  who  went 
down  with  him  should  have  a  share  in  the  town  he  and  his 
partners  were  going  to  build.  His  partners  were  Mr.  Hub- 
board,  purser  on  the  Sea  Gull,  and  the  Hon.  Butler  King, 
then  chief  in  the  Custom  House  in  San  Francisco.  After  1 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Captain  Tichenor  he  painted  the 
whole  enterprise  in  such  glowing  colors  that  I  was  really 
infatuated  with  the  prospect.  He  told  me  that  there  was 
not  a  particle  of  danger  from  the  Indians,  that  he  had  been 
ashore  among  them  many  times  and  they  were  perfectly 
friendly,  so  I  went  to  work  to  hunt  up  a  party  to  go  down 
with  us  on  the  Sea  Gull. 

I  gathered  together  eight  young  men  who  were  willing  to 
go  down  on  the  trip.  Their  names  were  J.  H.  Eagan,  John 
T.  Slater,  George  Ridoubs.  T.  D.  Palmer,  Joseph  Hussey. 
Cyrus  W.  Hedden,  James  Carigan,  Erastus  Summers  and 
myself,  making  nine  in  all.  Captain  Tichenor  agreed  to  fur- 
nish us  arms,  ammunition  and  supplies,  and  take  us  down 
on  his  steamer.  He  told  us  all  to  get  ready  to  go  as  he  would 
sail  from  Portland  on  the  4th  of  June,  1851. 

We  were  ready  and  sailed  from  Portland  on  time.  On  the 
5th  we  arrived  in  Astoria.  I  had  been  selected  by  the  party 
as  the  captain  of  the  expedition  so  I  went  to  Captain  Tiche- 


D 

STift-l  «vi  rp; 


ing  badly ;  Ridoubt  was  shot  in  the  breast,  the  arrow  stick- 
ing into  the  breast  bone,  making  a  painful  wound,  and 
Slater  ran  and  laid  down  in  a  hole  behind  the  tent.  This 
left  six  of  us  to  fight  it  out  with  the  Indians  who  still  kept 
coming.  When  they  were  crowded  on  the  narrow  ridge,  the 
red  shirted  fellow  in  the  lead  and  not  more  than  eight  feet 
from  the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  I  applied  the  fiery  end  of  the 
rope  to  the  priming.  The  execution  was  fearful,  at  least 
twelve  or  thirteen  men  were  killed  outright  and  such  a 
tumbling  of  scared  Indians  I  never  saw  before  or  since.  The 
gun  was  upset  by  the  recoil;  but  we  never  stopped  for  that 
but  rushed  out  to  them  and  soon  cleared  the  rock  of  all  the 
live  warriors.  We  counted  seventeen  dead  Indians  on  the 
rock  and  this  was  the  bloody  baptism  that  gave  the  name  of 
Battle  Rock  to  our  old  camp  at  Port  Orford  on  the  10th  day 
of  June,  1851. 

Some  incidents  that  occurred  during  the  battle  are  worth 
relating.  There  were  two  warriors  who  passed  the  crowd 
and  were  not  hit  by  any  of  the  slugs  of  lead  fired  from  the 
cannon.  One  of  these,  a  big  strong  looking  Indian,  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  wanted  my  scalp;  as  soon  as  the  can- 
non was  fired  he  rushed  to  me  with  a  big  knife.  Carigan 
shot  him  in  the  shoulder  and  Summers  shot  him  through  the 
bowels  and  still  he  came  on.  He  made  a  lick  at  me  with  his 
knife,  which  I  knocked  out  his  hand  with  my  left,  when  he 
grabbed  for  his  knife  I  pulled  one  of  the  deringers  from  my 
pocket  and  shot  him  in  the  head,  the  ball  going  in  at  one 
temple  and  out  at  the  other.  He  turned  then  and  ran 
twenty  feet  and  fell  dead  among  the  Indians  that  were 
killed  by  the  cannon.  The  other  Indian  went  for  Eagan 
whose  musket  missed  fire,  as  the  Indian  was  in  the  act  of 
fixing  an  arrow  in  his  bow,  when  Eagan  hit  him  over  the 
head  with  the  barrel  of  his  musket  bending  it  more  than  six 
inches.  The  blow  stunned  the  Indian  and  as  quick  as  light- 
ning Eagan  jumped  at  him  and  took  his  bow  away,  he  then 
jumped  back  and  turned  his  musket  and  gave  him  three 
or  four  blows  with  the  butt  knocking  him  entirely  off  the 
rock  into  the  ocean. 

After  the  fight  was  all  over  probably  an  hour,  an  Indian 
chief  came  up  the  beach  within  hailing  distance  and  laid 
down  his  bow.  quiver  of  arrows  and  knife  and  then  stepped 
forward  and  made  signs  that  he  wanted  to  come  to  our 
camp.    I  went  down  to  the  beach  and  met  him  and  brought 


him  up  to  the  camp.  He  was  by  all  odds  the  finest  specimen 
of  physical  manhood  that  I  ever  looked  at.  He  made  signs 
to  us  that  he  wanted  to  carry  away  the  dead  Indians.  I 
made  him  understand  that  he  could  bring  another  Indian  to 
help  him.  He  called  out  for  one  more  to  come  up  to  the 
camp.  They  would  take  the  dead  ones  on  their  back,  pack 
them  down  from  where  they  lay,  across  the  narrow  sandy 
beach  and  up  a  steep  trail  toward  the  north  and  over  a 
ridge  ;uid  out  of  sight.  They  did  this  eight  times,  and  where 
they  laid  the  dead  was  over  three  hundred  yards  from  our 
camp.  Some  of  the  Indians  were  quite  large,  several  of  them 
weighing  over  two  hundred  pounds.  As  a  feat  of  strength 
and  endurance  it  was  simply  wonderful.  They  carried  away 
all  the  dead  except  the  fellow  who  wore  the  red  shirt.  I 
tried  to  get  the  big  chief  to  carry  him  off  but  he  shook  his 
head  and  stooped  down  and  tore  his  shirt  in  two  and  then 
gave  him  a  kick  with  his  foot  atid  turned  and  walked  away. 
We  had  to  drag  the  fellow  afterwards  and  bury  him  in  the 
sand.  We  all  remarked  that  he  was  very  white  for  an  In- 
dian, he  had  yellow  hair  and  a  freckled  face.  I  pronounced 
him  to  be  a  white  man.  He  turned  out  to  be  a  white  man 
who  had  been  among  the  Indians  for  many  years,  they  hav- 
ing saved  him  from  the  wreck  of  a  Russian  ship  that  was 
lost  on  the  Oregon  coast  many  years  ago. 

Another  incident  of  our  day's  battle  was  this :  After  the 
Indian  chief  and  his  man  had  carried  away  all  of  the  dead 
warriors  we  went  to  work  to  make  a  breastwork  on  each  side 
of  our  gun,  this  was  to  make  it  a  little  more  difficult  for 
the  Indians  to  get  into  our  camp,  I  was  standing  outside  on 
the  narrow  ridge  in  front  of  our  gun  watching  some  Indians 
who  were  about  three  hundred  yards  away.  I  was  leaning 
on  my  rifle  when  Joe.  Hussey  came  out  of  the  camp  and 
laid  his  right  hand  on  my  left  shoulder,  I  turned  my  head 
to  see  what  he  wanted  tvhen  spat  a  bullet  hit  his  thumb  cut- 
ting it  about  half  off.  This  was  the  first  rifle  shot  we  had 
heard  from  the  Indians  since  the  fight  began.  The  Indian 
with  the  gun  had  crawled  down  unnoticed  by  us,  into  a  large 
pile  of  rocks  about  sixty  yards  away  from  where  I  stood 
when  he  shot.  He  was  so  sure  that  he  had  hit  me  that  he 
jumped  out  from  the  rocks  and  showed  himself;  then  it  was 
my  turn.  I  had  a  slug  ball  and  five  buck-shot  in  my  rifle 
and  in  an  instant  I  drew  a  head  on  him  and  when  my  gun 
cracked  he  jumped  three  feet  into  the  air  and  fell  dead. 


Eagan  said,  "I  am  going  after  his  gun.''  I  told  hini  to  hold 
on  until  I  had  loaded  my  rifle  for,  says  I,  "There  may  be 
other  Indians  in  the  rocks  and  I  want  to  be  ready."  As 
soon  as  my  gun  was  loaded  he  ran  down  and  picked  up  the 
gun  and  seeing  it  was  of  no  account  he  broke  the  stock  and 
came  back  bringing  the  Indians  head  dress  with  him.  It 
was  made  of  sea  shells  of  different  colors  and  was  quite 
pretty.  He  said  the  bullet  from  my  rifle  had  broken  his 
right  arm  and  passed  through  his  body  and  cut  his  left  hand 
entirely  off.  He  never  knew  what  hurt  him.  This  was  the 
last  Indian  killed  by  us  in  our  first  day's  battle.  We  could 
only  count  twenty  Indians  that  we  had  killed;  but  years 
afterward  we  learned  from  the  Indians  that  there  were 
twenty-three  killed. 

In  our  talk  with  the  big  chief  we  made  him  understand 
that  in  fourteen  days  more  the  steamer  would  return  and 
take  us  away  and  for  fourteen  days  we  were  not  molested 
by  them,  in  fact  we  never  saw  an  Indian ;  but  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  15th  they  were  there  in  force,  some  three  of  four 
hundred  of  them  in  their  war  paint.  They  evidently  meant 
business  now  as  we  had  lied  to  them,  the  steamer  did  not  ar- 
rive as  we  had  promised  them  and  we  could  not  make  them 
understand  why  the  vessel  did  not  come.  Two  or  three 
hundred  warriors  were  going  through  with  a  regular  war 
dance  on  the  beach  and  every  time  they  would  turn  around 
so  as  to  face  us  they  would  snap  their  bow  strings  at  us 
and  make  signs  that  they  would  soon  have  our  scalps.  The 
big  chief  was  now  their  leader.  He  had  his  warriors  all 
drawn  up  around  him  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  us.  He  made  a  speech  to  them  so  loud  that  we  could 
hear  every  word  he  said  above  the  roar  of  the  surf  and  he 
did  some  of  the  finest  acting  that  I  ever  saw  before  or  since. 
When  he  stopped  talking  he  drew  a  long  knife  and  waved  it 
around  his  head,  gave  a  terrible  yell*  and  started  for  us  fol- 
lowed by  not  less  than  three  hundred  warriors.  I  had  called 
to  my  side  James  Carrigan  who  who  was  the  best  rifle  shot 
of  any  of  my  men.  I  told  him  to  take  a  good  rest,  draw  his 
lungs  full  of  air,  keep  cool  and  wait  until  they  came  near 
enough  so  as  to  be  sure  and  kill  the  leader,  for  it  was  either 
the  big  chief  or  us  who  must  go.  When  he  got  within  about 
one  hundred  yards  of  us  I  raised  my  rifle  to  my  shoulder 
and  said,  "Fire!"  We  both  fired  at  the  same  time  and  down 
he  dropped,  we  had  both  hit  him  in  the  breast  and  one  of 


our  bullets  had  gone  through  his  heart,  killing  him  instantly. 
Had  a  hundred  thunder  bolts  dropped  among  his  warriors 
they  could  not  have  stopped  them  as  suddenly  as  killing 
their  big  chief.  They  gathered  around  his  body  and 
with  a  groan  that  was  terrible,  picked  him  up  and 
carried  him  away  to  the  north  out  of  sight.  In  about 
an  hour  another  great  tall  fellow  wearing  an  old  red 
shirt,  came  up  the  teach  and  commenced  calling  the 
Indians  around  him.  Pie  soon  collected  a  couple  of 
hundred  warriors  about  him  and  made  a  speech  to  them 
about  five  minutets  in  length.  We  could  see  by  his  frantic 
gestures  and  talk  that  he  was  urging  the  Indians  to  rush  on 
us  and  wipe  us  out.  When  he  stopped  talking  he  waved  his 
big  knife  over  his  head  and  started  for  us,  pointing  his  knife 
at  us  and  motioning  that  our  heads  must  be  cut  off.  We 
were  ready  for  him  and  when  he  came  close  to  where  the 
other  chief  was  killed,  we  fired  and  he  dropped  dead.  This 
ended  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  their  chiefs  to  induce  the  In- 
dians to  rush  on  us.  They  had  had  enough  of  that  kind  of 
business.  They  drew  back  to  the  edge  of  the  woods,  about 
three  hundred  yards  away  from  our  camp,  and  had  a  big 
talk,  after  which  they  commenced  going  down  the  beach  to 
a  place  a  little  over  a  mile  from  our  camp,  where  there  were 
a  number  of  fires  burning.  We  could  see  a  number  of  canoes 
loaded  with  Indians  coming  up  from  the  direction  of  the 
mouth  of  Rogue  River  and  landing  near  these  fires.  They 
were  evidently  concentrating  their  forces  for  a  night  at- 
tack  on  us.  We  had  now  taken  note  of  our  situation.  We 
we  surrounded  on  one  side  by  thousands  of  miles  of  water 
and  on  the  other  side  by  at  least  four  or  five  hundred  hostile 
Indians  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  or  more  from  any 
settlement  of  white  men.  We  had  also  taken  stock  of  our 
ammunition  and  had  little  left.  About  six  loads  apiece  for 
our  rifles.  Something  had  to  be  done  and  that  before  night, 
for  if  they  made  a  night  attack  on  us  we  could  not  possi- 
bly stand  them  off,  so  I  told  the  boys  that  if  we  could  gain 
the  woods  and  they  would  stand  by  me  I  would  take  them  all 
through  to  the  settlements.  We  made  up  our  minds  that  it 
was  the  only  chance  to  save  our  scalps.  We  were  still 
watched  by  ten  or  twelve  Indians  not  more  than  two  hun- 
dred yards  away.  To  get  rid  of  those  fellows  so  that  we 
could  gain  the  woods  was  the  next  question  we  had  to  solve. 
"Now,"  said  I,  "If  they  contemplate  a  night  attack  on  us  we 


8 

must  convince  those  fellows  on  watch  that  we  have  no  notion 
of  going  away."  We  all  went  to  work  as  hard  as  we  could 
to  strengthen  our  breastwork.  We  cut  down  one  of  the 
pine  trees  that  grew  on  Battle  Rock,  cut  off  the  limbs  and 
piled  them  on  top  of  our  breastworks.  As  soon  as  the  In- 
dians, who  were  on  watch,  saw  what  we  were  doing 
they  were  sure  we  were  determined  to  stay.  They  then  start- 
ed down  the  beach  to  join  the  others.  We  counted  them  as 
they  got  up  out  of  the  grass,  and  there  were  one  hundred 
and  fourteen.  I  will  say  that  I  never,  in  all  my  experience 
with  Indians  before  or  since,  saw  as  fine  a  body  of  warriors 
as  those.  We  were  now  pretty  sure  that  they  had  all  left, 
but  Eagan  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  trees  and 
looked  in  every  direction  but  could  see  no  sign  of  any  In- 
dians except  down  the  beach  where  they  were  having  a  grand 
war  dance.  Now  was  our  chance.  We  left  everything  we 
had  in  camp;  our  two  tents,  our  blankets  and  what  little 
provisions  we  had,  and  with  nothing  but  our  guns  and  an 
ax  and  all  the  small  ropes  we  had,  with  two  or  three  sea 
biscuits  apiece,  we  bid  farewell  to  our  old  camp  on  Battle 
Rock,  and  startetd  on  our  fearful  retreat  through  an  un- 
known country.  It  was  now  about  4  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. We  had  determined  to  keep  as  near  the  beach  as  pos- 
sible. We  travelled  with  all  our  might  to  get  as  far  as  we 
could  before  night  overtook  us.  When  we  were  about  three 
miles  from  Port  Orford  just  as  we  were  going  around  a 
point  of  rocks  on  an  old  trail,  we  met  about  thirty  Indian 
wariors  fully  armed,  going  down  to  join  the  others.  We 
raised  a  yell  and  charged  right  at  them.  We  never  fired  a 
shot,  but  they  ran  like  scared  wolves.  We  kept'  right  on 
and  just  between  sunset  and  dark  we  came  to  quite  a  river 
and,  as  good  luck  would  have  it,  we  struck  this  stream  just 
at  the  turn  of  the  tide  so  that  by  wading  out  on  the  bar  a 
little  way  we  were  able  to  get  across  without  any  trouble. 
Fifteen  minutes  later  we  would  have  had  to  build  a  raft 
to  cross  on.  This  stream  was  not  down  on  any  map  that  I 
had  ever  seen  at  that  time.  I  think  it  is  now  called  Elk 
River.  After  crossing  this  stream  we  struck  into  the  woods 
and  travelled  all  night,  guiding  our  steps  by  the  roar  of  the 
surf  breaking  on  the  rocks.  There  was  no  time  to  lose.  We 
knew  that  the  Indians  would  follow  us  so  we  traveled  on  as 
hard  as  we  could,  wading  streams  of  water,  some  of  consid- 
erable size,  and  making  our  way  through  a  dense  growth  of 


9 

timber  and  brush.  About  3  o'clock  the  next  day  we  came  to 
the  edge  of  what  seemed  to  us  a  large  plain.  It  looked  to  be 
miles  in  extent  and  was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  high 
grass  and  proved  to  be  an  immense  swamp. 

We  now  determined  to  try  and  cross  this  swamp  and 
reach  the  sea  after  dark  and  travel  all  night.  We  floundered 
around  in  this  swamp  all  night,  sometimes  in  water  up  to 
our  armpits,  until  after  dark  when  we  found  a  little  island 
of  about  an  aere  of  dry  land  and  covered  with  a  thick  growth 
of  small  fir  bushes.  Here  we  laid  down  and  tried  to  rest 
and  sleep  but  encountered  a  new  enemy  in  the  shape  of 
clouds  of  mosquitoes.  There  was  no  escape  from  them  and 
they  were  the  hungriest  lot  that  I  had  ever  seen.  In  the 
morning,  as  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  for  us  to  see  our 
way  out,  we  struck  for  the  beach  again  and  in  about  an 
hour  we  reached  an  Indian  trail  fully  twenty  feet  wide 
where  hundreds  of  Indians  had  gone.  They  were  now 
ahead  of  us.  AVe  followed  on  their  trail  a  few  miles  when 
we  came  to  a  stream  of  water  about  four  rods  wide  and  two 
feet  deep.  Here  the  trail  turned  up  this  stream  and  left  the 
beach.  We  at  once  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Indians 
had  followed  us  that  far  the  first  night  and  when  daylight 
came  they  had  found  that  we  had  not  traveled  on  the  beach, 
so  they  struck  up.  this  stream,  thinking  of  intercepting  us 
when  we  readied  this  stream  on  our  way.  We  crossed  on 
the  beach  and  were  now  ahead  of  the  Indians.  We  now  put 
in  our  best  time  traveling  as  hard  as  we  could.  About  five 
o'clock  we  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Coquille  River  where  we 
were  confronted  by  a  large  stream  of  water  and  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  river  were  three  or  four  hundred  Indians 
all  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  ready  to  prevent  our  crossing. 
They  were  making  signs  that  they  would  kill  us  if  we  at- 
tempted to  cross,  so  there  was  now  no  alternative  but  to 
keep  up  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  and  do  our  best  to  pre- 
vent coming  into  collision  with  these  Indians  that  were  so 
numerous  and  hostile.  We  now  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
we  had  better  try  and  cross  the  mountains  and  strike  the 
wagon  road  that  led  from  the  settlements  in  Oregon  down 
to  California.  About  three  or  four  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Coquille  River,  on  the  south  side,  rises  quite  a  high 
mountain,  so  we  determined  to  go  to  the  top  of  this  moun- 
tain in  order  to  study  the  surrounding  country.  Three  or 
four  hundred  Indians  kept  right  opposite  watching  us,  with 


10 

nothing  but  the  river  between  them  and  us.  Just  as  we 
reached  the  foot  of  this  mountain  the  Indians  stopped  a  few 
minutes  and  divided  their  forces.  One  party  of  over  one 
hundred  turned  off  to  the  left  and  ran  up  a  short  ravine  to- 
ward the  north.  They  soon  disappeared  over  a  low  pass  to 
the  left  and  went  back  toward  their  village  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  Their  object  was  to  get  their  canoes,  cross  the 
river,  overtake  us  and  kill  or  capture  us.  When  we  had 
ascended  this  mountain  some  distance  we  could  see  the 
Indians  crossing  the  river  in  their  canoes.  We  hurried  on  as 
fast  as  we  could  travel  and  between  sun  down  and  dark 
we  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain,  tired,  hungry  and 
nearly  worn  out.  Here  we  determined  to  rest  and  get  some 
sleep.  We  worked  our  way  into  the  thicket  of  brush  where 
we  found  a  kind  of  sink  hole,  about  twenty  feet  in  diameter 
and  about  three  feet  deep,  covered  on  the  bottom  with  a 
rank  growth  of  grass  with  thick  brush  all  around  it.  Here 
we  all  laid  down  and  were  soon  fast  asleep.  Just  as  soon  as 
it  began  to  be  light  in  the  morning,  notwithstanding  there 
was  a  thick  fog,  we  were  up  and  off,  traveling  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  as  hard  as  we  could.  In  about  an  hour 
we  struck  the  river  again  at  a  point  where  the  timber  came 
down  close  to  the  water.  We  found  a  lot  of  dry  drift  wood 
and  soon  made  a  raft  large  enough  to  carry  the  three  men  who 
could  not  swim  and  our  guns  and  the  bal lance  of  us  swim- 
ming and  pushing  the  raft  ahead  of  us.  The  river  at  this 
point  was  about  two  hundred  yards  wide.  When  we  reached 
the  opposite  bank  and  landed  we  supposed  that  we  had 
crossed  the  river  but  we  had  only  landed  on  an  island  and 
did  not  know  it  until  we  had  taken  all  our  ropes  off  of  the 
raft  and  let  the  logs  go.  We  had  not  gone  more  than  three 
hundred  yards  when,  to  our  consternation,  wo  discovered 
that  we  had  another  branch  of  the  river  to  cross  nearly  as 
wide  as  the  one  we  had  crossed.  There  was  not  a  stick  of 
timber  on  the  island  to  make  a  raft  out  of,  and  as  the  fog 
was  beginning  to  break  away,  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  so 
one  of  the  men,  George  Ridoubt,  volunteered  to  swim  across 
with  the  ax  and  cut  off  a  dry  pine  tree  that  projected  out 
over  the  water  towards  us.  Our  intention  was  to  get  the 
three  men,  who  could  not  swim,  on  to  the  tree,  let  them  bold 
our  guns  and  the  balance  of  us  swim  along  and  guide  the 
tree.  Just  as  the  tree  fell  into  the  water  three  Indians  came 
around  the  bend  in  a  canoe.    They  were  busy  watching  the 


11 

man  that  was  chopping  and  did  not  see  us  until  they  were 
close  to  us.  We  hailed  them  and  made  signs  that  we  wanted 
them  to  land  and  take  us  over  the  river  to  where  Ridoubt 
was. 

This  they  refused  to  do,  but  when  they  saw  three  or.  four 
rifles  leveled  on  them  they  concluded  to  come  to  where  we 
were.  We  all  piled  into  the  canoe  and  they  landed  us  on 
the  main  land  just  as  the  sun  broke  through  the  fog.  We 
did  not  tarry  long  till  we  were  on  our  weary  tramp  again. 
We  were  now  very  weak,  not  having  eaten  anything  for 
three  nights  and  four  days.  We  saw  plenty  of  game,  but 
did  not  dare  to  fire  a  shot,  for  it  would  have  brought  at 
least  three  hundred  Indians  on  to  us  in  ten  minutes,  and 
they  would  have  made  short  work  of  us.  The  men  who 
were  with  me  had  no  knowledge  of  woodcraft  and  but  little 
of  Indian  warfare.  They  were  on  an  average  as  brave  a 
company  of  men  as  the  same  number  that  could  be  found. 
There  was  not  one  among  them  who  could  have  taken  the 
lead  and  kept  a  course  without  running  around  in  a  circle. 
When  I  found  this  out  I  saw  that  their  lives  as  well  as  my 
own  depended  on  my  keeping  in  the  lead.  I  had  a  good 
knowledge  of  woodcraft  and  could  take  a  course  and  keep 
it  as  long  as  it  was  necessary.  I  had  also  some  little  knowl- 
edge of  the  cunning  and  trickery  of  the  Indians,  having 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  company  with  Kit  Carson; 
and  I  will  here  say  that  of  all  the  men  that  I  ever  came  in 
contact  with  or  associated  with  Christopher  Carson  knew 
all  the  tricks  and  cunning  of  the  Indians  better  than  anj 
man  I  ever  saw.  I  hope  you  will  not  think  me  egotistical 
when  I  say  that  I  felt  equal  to  the  task  of  leading  my  party 
through  to  a  place  of  safety.  After  crossing  this  branch  of 
the  river  we  struck  out  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  through 
the  timber,  intending,  if  we  could,  to  reach  the  beach  by 
night,  and  then  travel  as  hard  as  we  could  all  night  if 
necessary.  We  traveled  on  through  the  thick  heavy  timber 
until  it  got  so  dark  that  we  could  not  get  along,  so  we  all 
laid  down  by  the  side  of  a  big  log  and  slept  until  daylight. 
We  then  jumped  up  and  were  off  in  the  same  direction  we 
had  been  traveling  the  day  before.  In  about  an  hour  we 
emerged  from  the  timber  and  soon  got  down  to  the.  beach. 
We  struck  the  sea  at  a  point  where  a  long  reef  of  rocks  ex- 
tended quite  a  ways  out  into  the  ocean.  These  rocks,  near 
the  shore,  were  covered  with  mussels  which  we  broke  from 


12 

the  rocks  and  commenced  eating  them  raw.  They  soon 
made  us  sick,  so  we  built  up  a  fire  and  began  roasting  them 
and  that  made  them  much  better.  We  were  eating  our  first 
lot  of  roasted  mussels  when  one  of  the  Indians,  who  had 
crossed  us  over  the  north  branch  of  the  Coquille  river  the 
day  before,  came  down  to  us.  As  soon  as  he  got  near  to  us, 
he  commenced  talking  Jargon.  He  said  he  had  seen  me  in 
Portland,  that  he  had  kept  right  behind  us  in  the  woods 
after  we  left  the  river,  and  that  he  was  afraid  to  come  to 
us  in  the  woods  believing  we  would  kill  him.  He  said  that 
the  Indians  were  coming  up  on  the  beach  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Coquille,  and  we  must  hurry  as  fast  as  we  could. 
Each  one  of  us  took  all  the  live  mussels  we  could  carry,  but 
did  not  stop  to  cook  them  as  we  intended  to  roast  them  when 
we  got  to  a  place  of  safety.  We  now  struck  up  the  beach 
as  fast  as  we  could  go,  the  Indian  in  the  lead.  We  traveled 
on  until  about  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  the  Indian 
called  our  attention  to  a  white  pole  about  eight  inches  in 
diameter  and  twentyy  feet  high,  standing  in  a  great  pile  of 
rocks  at  the  edge  of  the  beach.  When  we  passed  this  pole 
and  monument,  the  Indian  said  we  were  now  safe,  as  the 
California  Siwashes  would  not  dare  to  come  above  that 
pole,  for  the  Coos  Bay,  Umpqua,  Clickatats,  and  some  other 
tribes  he  mentioned,  would  make  war  on  them  and  drive 
them  back.  After  resting  a  little  while  we  traveled  on  for 
about  two  hours  and,  turning  into  a  little  cove,  we  built  up 
a  fire  and  roasted  our  mussels  and  ate  them.  We  then  took 
up  our  line  of  march  and  traveled  till  it  was  dark  and  then 
turned  off  to  our  right  where  we  found  some  dry  sand,  in 
another  little  cove,  and  all  laid  down  and  slept  until  morn- 
ing. As  soon  as  it  was  daylight  we  were  up  and  away. 
That  afternoon  we  reached  Coos  Bay.  The  Indians  met  us 
more  than  a  mile  from  their  camp  and  brought  us  dried 
salmon,  dried  elk  meat  and  salmon  terries.  They  were  ex- 
tremely friendly  and  expressed  themselves  as  being  very 
glad  that  we  had  not  been  killed  by  the  California  Siwashes. 
We  staid  all  night  with  these  Indians  who  seemed  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  doing  everything  they  could  for  us.  In 
the  morning  they  took  us  across  the  bay  and  landed  us 
about  where  Empire  City  now  stands.  They  told  us  that 
we  would  make  the  mouth  of  the  Umpqua  the  -next  day. 
We  bid  our  friends  goodbye  and  struck  across  the  sand  hills 
and  through  swamps,  where  sometimes  the  water  was  three 


13 

or  four  feet  deep.  We  floundered  around  in  these  sand  hills 
and  swamps  until  we  were  nearly  tired  out  and  struck  for 
the  beach  again.  About  an  hour  before  dark  we  reached 
the  beach.  The  wind  was  blowing  so  hard  from  the  west 
that  it  made  it  difficult  and  unpleasant  to  travel  against,  so 
we  left  the  beach  and  sought  shelter  behind  some  sand  hills 
that  raise  to  more  than  a  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  We 
found  some  dry  pine  logs  near  a  thicket  of  brush  and  soon 
had  a  big  fire  going.  Here  we  laid  down  and  slept  until 
morning,  notwithstanding  we  were  soaked  with  the  mist 
that  had  been  driven  across  the  sand  hills  by  the  gale  in  the 
night.  After  we  had  dried  ourselves  a  little  by  our  fire  we 
struck  out  for  the  beach.  The  gale  had  subsided  and  the 
beach,  for  more  than  one  hundred  yards  in  width  and  as  far 
as  we  could  see  up  and  down  the  beach,  was  literally  covered 
with  fisli  that  had  been  driven  ashore  the  night  before  by 
the  gale.  "Luck  at  last,"  cried  Eagan,  "Here  is  fish  enough 
for  a  feast  for  the  Gods;"  and  each  one  of  us  picked  up  two 
apiece,  weighing  5  or  6  pounds  each,  and  back  we  went  to 
our  old  camp  where  we  had  left  a  big  bed  of  coals,  where  we 
roasted  our  fish,  eating  all  we  could  of  one  and  taking  the 
rest  with  us.  That  afternoon  we  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Umpqua  River.  The  Indians  on  watch  for  us  had  notified 
the  white  men  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  that  the  white 
men,  who  had  shot  a  keg  of  nails  into  the  Indians  at  Port 
Orford,  killing  many  of  them,  were  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  We  could  see  the  white  men  launching  their  boats  at 
what  was  called  Umpqua  City;  at  that  time  it  consisted  of 
one  house  built  of  sheet  iron  and  one  tent.  In  about  an 
hour  they  had  reached  us  and  taken  us  aboard.  Having  a 
fair  wind  the}'  hoisted  sail  and  just  as  the  sun  wras  setting 
on  the  2d  day  of  July,  1851,  we  were  landed  and  made  wel- 
come in  white  men's  quarters,  after  having  an  experience 
that  not  soon  would  we  forget.  Never  did  a  set  of  poor, 
weary,  ragged,  hungry  white  men  receive  a  more  royal  wel- 
come than  we  did  at  the  hands  of  Dr.  Joseph  Drew  and  his 
associates  at  their  camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Umpqua  River. 
We  rested  there  one  day  and  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  they 
took  us  in  their  boats  and,  having  sailed  up  the  river,  they 
left  us  at  another  new  town  called  Scotsburg.  Here  we 
landed  about  1  o'clock  and  after  I  had  eaten  some  dinner  I 
bade  farewell  to  my  comrades  and  struck  out  for  Portland. 
The  rest  were  so  worn  out  and  footsore  that  they  were  com- 


14 

pel  led  to  lay  by  and  rest.  I  traveled  as  hard  as  I  could  and 
on  the  night  of  the  fourth  I  stayed  with  a  man  whose  name 
was  Wells.  I  left  his  house  before  daylight  and,  after  a  hard 
day's  tramp,  1  reached  the  hospitable  house  of  the  grand  old 
pioneer  Jesse  Applegate.  He  had  just  received  his  mail 
from  Portland  and  was  busy  reading  the  account  of  our 
fight  with  the  Indians.  The  conclusion  drawn  from  the  ac- 
count was  that  we  were  killed  and  burned  up.  I  did  not 
interrupt  him  until  he  got  through  reading  his  paper.  I 
then  asked  him  if  I  could  get  some  supped  and  a  place  to 
stay  all  night.  "I  can  give  you  some  supper  but  all  my 
beds  and  blankets  are  in  use,"  he  said.  I  told  him  I  was 
quite  hungry  and  it  made  very  little  difference  with  me 
whether  I  had  a  bed  or  not  as  I  had  been  sleeping  for  some 
time  without  a  bed' or  blanket.  He  then  commenced  talking 
about  those  unfortunate  young  men  that  had  been  lured  into 
the  jaws  of  death  by  misrepresentation.  "Why,"  said  he, 
"those  Indians  down  the  coast,  combined  with  their  broth- 
ers, the  Rough  River  Indians,  are  the  worst  Indians  on  the 
American  continent,  and  the  bravest.  Every  old  settler  in 
Oregon  knows  that.  The  man  or  company  that  persuaded 
them  to  go  down  with  the  view  of  making  a  settlement  at 
Port  Orford  was  guilty  of  a  great  wrong."  "Well,"  said  I, 
"Mr.  Applegate,  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  men 
were  not  murdered  but  escaped,  and  eight  of  them  I  left  at 
Scotsburg  yesterday  and  I  am  the  ninth."  I  told  him  my 
name  and  then  I  gave  him  an  account  of  our  retreat  and  his 
remark  was.  after  I  got  through,  ''Wonderful,  wonderful." 

Here  I  must  make  an  explanation.  I  had  written  a  full 
account  of  our  first  battle  with  the  Indians  on  Battle  Rock 
and  also  an  account  of  our  last  battle,  fifteen  days  after- 
ward, and  closed  the  account  with  these  words,  "We  are  now 
surrounded  by  three  or  four  hundred  Indians  hungry  for 
our  scalps,  on  one  side;  by  thousands  of  miles  of  water  on 
the  other;  and  at  least  150  miles  from  any  white  man's 
house.  We  have  but  little  grub  and  are  nearly  out  of  am- 
munition and  if  the  Indians  should  make  a  night  attack  and 
rush  on  us  we  certainly  could  not  defend  ourselves  against 
so  many."  This  paper  I  folded  up  and  placed  in  the  back  of 
an  old  book,  went  to  the  stump  of  the  pine  tree  that  we  had 
just  cut  down,  and  buried  the  book  in  a  hole  about  a  foot 
deep,  then  scraped  off  the  bark  on  one  side  of  the  stump, 


15 

just  over  where  the  book  was,  and  wrote  with  a  piece  of  red 
chalk  these  two  words,  "Look  beneath." 

When  the  steamer  Sea  Gull  reached  San  Francisco,  after 
leaving  us  at  Port  Orford,  she  was  embargoed  for  debt  and 
tied  up,  so  it  was  impossible  for  Captain  Tichenor  to  return 
in  fourteen  days  as  lie  had  promised.  Col.  John  B.  Fergu- 
son, then  U.  S.  mail  agent  for  California  and  Oregon,  and  a 
friend  of  mine,  learning  from  Captain  Tichenor  that  he  was 
tied  up  for  debt  and  could  not  return  on  time,  and  knowing 
much  more  about  the  Indians  on  the  coast  than  the  captain 
did,  went  to  the  captain  of  the  steamer  Columbia  and  dis- 
patched him  one  day  before  her  regular  sailing  time,  with 
strict  orders  to  call  at  Port  Orford  and  take  us  bitck  to 
Portland.  The  steamer  stopped  at  Port  Orford  the  day  after 
we  left  Battle  Rock.  The  captain  and  a  number  of  pas- 
sengers went  ashore  and  found  the  body  of  the  fellow  in  the 
red  shirt  that  we  had  killed  in  the  first  fight  and  buried  in 
the  sand,  but  the  tide  had  washed  him  out  and  he  was  then 
as  white  as  could  be.  They  made  sure  that  it  was  one  of  us 
when  they  went  up  on  the  rock  where  everything  showed 
evidence  of  a  fight.  In  looking  around  their  attention  was 
called  to  the  words  written  on  the  stump  and  they  soon  dug 
up  the  book  and  after  reading  it  they  were  sure  that  the  In- 
dians had  wiped  us  out.  As  no  Indians  were  to  be  seen,  they 
concluded  to  search  a  little  further  for  more  evidence  of  our 
fate.  They  finally  found  where  the  big  fire  had  been  built 
and  in  some  of  the  ashes  they  found  some  human  teeth  and 
some  charred  pieces  of  human  bones.  This  ended  their 
search  as  they  were  now  sure  that  we  had  been  killed  and 
burned.  What  they  really  found  was  where  the  Indians  had 
burned  their  dead  after  .the  first  battle  with  us.  They  then 
returned  to  the  steamer  in  the  full  belief  that  we  had  all  been 
killed  and  burned,  all  but  the  body  they  found  on  the  beach. 

The  steamer  sailed  at  once  with  the  account  of  our  trouble 
up  to  the  time  we  left  Battle  Rock.  Thi-s  was  published  in 
the  Oregonian  as  soon  as  possible,  and  this  was  the  account 
that  Applegate  was  reading  when  I  reached  his  house. 
Nearly  all  my  friends  in  Portland  and  all  over  Oregon  really 
believed  that  it  was  all  up  with  me  and  all  my  party.  Not 
so  with  the  old  mountaineers,  Joe  Meek,  Otway  and  Wilks. 
They  all  said  that  we  would  turn  up  all  right  yet,  and  when 
I  reached  Portland  with  the  news  that  my  party  was  all  safe 
they  were  as  happy  as  men  could  be.     I  reached  my  old 


16 

quarters  in  Portland  on  the  11th  day  of  July,  1851,  strong 
and  rugged,  having  had  enough  of  adventure  to  do  me  for 
one  time. 

As  to  my  comrades  on  this  expedition,  I  never  saw  hut  two 
of  them  afterwards.  Eagan  settled  in  Portland,  married, 
raised  a  family.  Palmer  settled  in  Salem,  had  a  saloon  and 
was  quite  well  fixed.  These  two  men  I  saw  quite  often.  In 
18(H)  Slater  was  killed  hy  Indians,  on  Rogue  River.  In  1855 
Cy.  Hedden  joined  a  company  under  Colonel  TYault  and 
tried  to  reach  Fort  Orford  by  land.  T?  Vault's  party  consist- 
ed of  ten  or  twelve  men  and  when  they  reached  the  Coquille 
River,  Hedden  pointed  out  our  trail  to  T' Vault  and  told  him 
he  was  on  dangerous  ground  and  must  be  cautious.  He 
paid  no  attention  to  Hedden's  warning,  but  went  into  camp 
on  a  grassy  plat  not  far  from  where  we  crossed  the  river. 
In  the  night  the  Indians  sin-prised  his  camp,  killing  the  most 
of  his  men.  Hedden  escaped  with  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Williams,  who  had  bees  wounded  with  an  arrow,  and  whe» 
the  shaft  was  pulled  out  the  head  was  left  in  his  body. 
Hedden  and  Williams  finally  reached  Scotsburg  where  Wil- 
liams suffered  for  months  but  the  arrow  point  finally  worked 
itself  out.  Hedden  stayed  and  waited  on  him  until  he  got 
well. 

When  I  look  back  over  this  whole  affair  I  think  you  will 
agree  with  me  that,  take  it  all  in  all,  the  history  of. the  Port 
Orford  expedition  is  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  history  of  the 
early  settlements.  As  to  our  fight,  considering  our  inex- 
perience and  the  arms  we  had,  we  certainly  did  well.  There 
is  no  other  battle  in  Indian  warfare  that  I  know  of,  that 
equals  it,  except  that  most  glorious  defense  Mrs.  Harris 
made  in  1855  on  Rogue  River  in  defending  her  house  and 
home  containing  the  dead  body  of  her  husband  and  her  living 
child,  when  for  more  than  ten  hours  she,  all  alone,  stood 
off  at  least  one  hundred  of  the  bravest  Indians  that  ever 
lifted  a  white  man's  scalp,  killing,  according  to  the  Indians' 
own  statement,  fifteen.  To  this  little  woman  we  must  all 
give  the  praise  of  making  the  grandest  fight,  against  fearful 
odds,  that  was  ever  made  on  the  continent  of  America. 

It  was  the  first  time  that  the  Indians  of  Port  Orford  had 
ever  been  whipped,  usually  killing  more  of  the  white  men 
than'they  themselves  had  had  killed.  Here  they  had  lost  25 
warriors  and  npt  killed  or  captured  a  single  white  man. 
It  was  the  old  cannon  that  did  the  work.     It  was  an  en- 


17 

tirely  new  thing  to  them  as  they  really  thought  that  we 
were  using  thunder  and  lightning  against  them.  The  noise 
and  the  fearful  execution  done  by  the  gun  demoralized  them. 
They  were  not  only  seared  but  they  were  terrified  and  the 
killing  of  their  two  big  chiefs  taught  them  that  we  were 
dangerous.  I  have  often  thought  that  our  escape  was  due 
as  much  to  their  fear  of  us  as  to  our  good  luck.  I  can  look 
back  over  the  long  stretch  of  years  and  feel  a  generous 
pride  that  none  of  my  party  were  killed. 

I  know  not  if  any  of  my  old  comrades  are  living  now.  I 
was  the  youngest  one  in  the  party  and  I  have  passed  my 
three  score  and  ten.  If  any  of  them  are  living,  "God's  bless- 
ing on  them;"  if  they  have  crossed  the  great  Divide,  then 
"Farewell." 

Nearly  all  of  the  old  pioneers  of  Oregon  are  gone.  No 
braver,  bigger-hearted,  or  truer  set  of  pioneers  ever  blazed 
the  way  for  the  march  of  civilization  than  they  who, 

"Belonged  to  the  legion  that  never  were  listed, 
They  carried  no  banner  nor  crest; 
But,  split  in  a  thousand  detachments, 
Were  breaking  the  ground  for  the  rest." 

My  task  is  done,  and  I  claim  no  other  merit  for  these  recol- 
lections than  that  of  truth. 

J.  M.  Kirkpatrick. 


DISCOVERY  OF  RICH  GOLD  FIELDS. 

After  much  delay  Captain  Tichenor  returned  to  Port  Or- 
ford  and  found  with  dismay  that  there  had  been  a  battle 
with  the  Indians,  and  that  the  men  he  had  left  in  charge 
were  either  killed  or  had  escaped. 

The  Indians  were  finaly  subdued,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  there  was  vast  stretches  of  black  sand  on  the  beach, 
reaching  from  Coos  Bay  southward  to  Crescent  City.  These 
sands  were  permeated  with  fine  particles  of  gold,  and  many 
fortunes  were  made  with  the  "TOM"  process;  but  the 
miners  began  to  follow  up  the  stream,  believing  that  the  gold 
found  on  the  beach  came  from  a  mineral  belt  that  existed  in 
the  mountains.    Johnsons  Creek,  a  stream  heading  at  Sal- 


18 

raon  Mountain,  proved  to  be  very  rich,  and  coarse  gold  soon 
found  its  way  into  the  miners'  sack.  The  stream  being  only 
a  few  miles  in  length  it  was  soon  worked  out,  as  the  rush 
to  that  new  Eldorado  was  great.  After  taking  out  many 
thousand  dollars,  the  prospectors  broke  camp  and  started 
for  other  fields  of  promise.  Had  these  adventurers  gone 
three  miles  to  the  head  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  stream 
and  examined  the  foothills  for  quartz,  they  would  have 
found  mines  that  afterwards  became  noted  for  their  vast 
wealth.  In  after  years,  while  working  on  the  side  of  Sal- 
mon Mountain  in  a  placer  mine.  Mr.  Dunbar  uncovered  ore 
or  quartz  that  yielded  wonderful  results.  One  piece  that 
weighed  two  hundred  pounds  yielded  $2,700  and  other  an- 
alysis showed  a  value  as  high  at  $600  per  ton.  The  placer 
mine  thus  worked  yielded  good  results  in  coarse  gold  and 
amalgam,  and  besides  ore  of  different  grades  were  uncov- 
ered, but  a  forest  fire  sweeping  over  the  mountain  destroyed 
their  three  miles  of  flume  and  all  other  improvements  that 
were  of  a  nature  susceptible  to  destruction. 

The  owners  of  this  valuable  property  concluded  to  trans- 
fer it  to  more  energetic  hands,  hence  a  company  was  formed, 
capitalizing  at  only  $50,000,  25,000  shares  being  placed  on 
the  market  to  enable  the  company  to  adopt  improved 
methods  so  that  the  gold  might  be  secured  rapidly  and  at 
the  least  expense. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  MINE. 

The  mine  is  known  as  Salmon  Mountain  Placer  Mine  and 
owned  by  the  Salmon  Mountain  Coarse  Gold  Mining  Com- 
pany, their  principal  place  of  business  being  at  Myrtle 
Point,  Oregon,  near  Coos  Bay.  The  company  has  300  acres. 
It  lays  on  the  north  slope  of  Salmon  Mountain,  situated 
near  the  county  line  dividing  Coos  and  Curry  counties  in 
southwest  Oregon.  The  mine  is  30  miles  from  Myrtle 
Point,  a  thriving  town  situated  at  the  head  of  navigation 
on  the  Coquille  River,  a  stream  that  joins  the  Pacific  Ocean 
25  miles  north  of  Port  Orford.  There  is  a  line  of  steamers 
running  between  Coos  Bay  and  San  Francisco,  and  Myrtle 
Point  is  connected  by  railroad  with  Coos  Bay,  and  a  wagon 
road  connects  Mvrtle  Point  with  the  mine. 


19 

Report  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Surveyor  and  Mineral- 
ogist, Port  Orford,  Oregon,  Folio  No.  89,  Published  by 
the  Department  of  the  Interior. 

''The  Salmon  Mountain  Mine  on  the  north  slope  of  Sal- 
mon Mountain,  at  an  elevation  of  2,100  feet,  is  hydraulic, 
using  water  with  nearly  200  feet  head,  brought  across  the 
divide  from  the  upper  part  of  Johnsons  Creek.  The  cut  is 
about  50  feet  deep,  the  same  in  width,  and  500  feet  long, 
with  a  range  of  200  feet  in  hight.  It  is  in  rather  fragmen- 
tal  material  of  igneous  origin,  except  at  the  lower  end, 
where  Eocene  shales  and  sandstone  occur.  Although  closed 
at  the  present  time,  it  has  been  worked  during  the  rainy 
season  at  intervals  for  a  number  of  years.  When  running 
under  a  good  head  the  mine  paid  $75  to  $100  a  day  and  the 
gold  is  said  to  be  rather  uniformly  distributed  through  the 
whole  mass." 

These  facts  have  been  set  forth  so  that  those  who  wish  to 
make  an  investment  in  a  very  promising  proposition  can 
do  so.  It  is  confidently  believed  that  this  is  as  good  and 
safe  a  field  for  such  an  enterprise  as  can  be  found  and 
those  contemplating  such  an  investment  should  apply  ki 
person  or  by  letter  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  the  com- 
pany, Mr.  Orvil  Dodge,  Myrtle  Point,  Oregon,  and  proper 
blanks  will  be  furnished. 

All  of  the  stock  offered  is  Treasury  stock,  and  only  so 
much  will  be  sold  as  will  be  sufficient  to  equip  the  mine. 

If  you  have  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  to  invest  you  are 
face  to  face  with  an  opportunity  for  rich  returns  that  is 
little  likely  to  occur  again  in  your  lifetime.  If  you  want  to 
act  on  this  proposition,  prompt,  immediate  subscription  is 
the  only  sure  way  to  secure  the  stock. 

Following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Hon. 
Binges  Herman,  ex-Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  and  now  a  Member  of  Congress : 

"I  have  known  the  Salmon  Mountain  Mine  forty  years  at 
least,  and  have  known  of  its  great  mineral  wealth.  I  have 
known  of  large  quantities  of  coarse  gold  having  been  ex- 
tracted. *  *  *  I  know  all  of  the  people  who  constitute 
the  ownership  of  this  valuable  property  and  know  them  to 
be  men  of  integrity  and  responsibility  in  the  community  in 
which  they  reside.  *  *  *  I  have  confidence  in  the  ex- 
tent and  richness  of  the  Salmon  Mountain  Mine." 


20 


FIRST   QUARTERLY    REPORT  TO   THE    STOCK-HOLDERS   OF   THE   SAL- 
MON MOUNTAIN  COARSE  GOLD  MINING  CO. 

Principle  place  of  business.  Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 

(Incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Oregon.) 
» 

December  31,  1903. 

The  mine  originally  consisted  of  8  placer  claims,  to  whicii 
4  more  have  been  added.  The  company  has  recently 
secured  4  quartz  claims,  which  have  been  developed  while 
working  the  placer  mine,  they  being  on  the  same  ground. 

The  assay  of  the  quartz  lodes  thus  found  is  officially  re- 
ported by  Professor  Monroe,  of  the  Columbian  University, 
of  Washington,  I).  (\,  as  able  to  produce  the  following 
results : 

Ore  No.  1. . |268.88  per  ton 

Ore  No.  2 243.50  per  ton 

Ore  No.  3 600.80  per  ton 

Ore  No.  4, 8.03  per  ton 

The  samples  thus  analyzed  were  selected  by  persons  not 
interested,  and  an  affidavit  of  two  men  set  forth  the  fact 
that  they  were  fair  and  true  samples  of  the  mine. 

The  improvements  on  the  mine  now  consist  of  1  sawmill 
(water  power),  1  giant,  a  blacksmith  shop  (well  equipped), 
boarding  house,  large  warehouse,  1  steam  boiler  and  engine, 
eraster,  3  miles  of  flume,  about  400  yards  of  sluice-boxes, 
picks,  shovels,  and  other  tools  to  work  10  men.  There  is 
about  1,500  feet  of  tunneling,  that  proves  the  value  and 
extent  of  the  mine  to  be  excellent  and  a  good  investment. 

During  the  last  quarter  the  company  have  caused  to  be 
expended  on  the  mine,  preparing  for  large  improvements, 
the  sum  of  $1,000,  so  they  will  be  ready  to  put  in  the 
necessary  machinery  to  equip  the  mine  and  have  it  in  good 
working  order  by  the  1st  of  next  July,  when  a  surprising 
dividend  may  be  looked  for,  within  the  year. 

As  soon  as  shares  are  sold  and  a  few  thousand  dollars  are 
realised,  a  stamp  mill  will  be  placed  on  the  premises  and 
run  night  and  day,  in  charge  of  an  expert. 

Several  thousand  more  shares  are  being  taken  by  persons 


21 


in    Myrtle    Point   and   vicinity,   who   personally   know   the 
value  of  the  property. 

As  soon  as  operations  are  under  way  you  will  receive 
another  report,  which  will  he  made  quarterly  thereafter. 

OFFICERS,  AND    MEMBERS    SALMON    MOUNTAIN    COARSE    GOLD    MIN- 
ING   COMPANY. 

VI  I//;.  p.  0.  ADDRESS. 

B.  Fentox,  President,  Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 

John  J.  Cubrbn,  First  lr  ice- /'resident.     Myrtle  Point,  Ores:. 
0.  C.  Carter.  Second  Vice-President. 
Orvil  Dodge,  Secretary, 
M.  P.  Lee.  Assistant  Secretary, 
\l.  W.  Ltndy,  Treasurer, 
T.  M.  Hermann,  Corresponding  Se&y, 
Norman  Dodge,  Engineer, 
Stephen  Gallier,  Sheriff  of  Coos  Co., 


Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 
Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 
Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 
Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 
.Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 
Myrtle  Point,  Oreg. 
Ooquille  City,  Oreg. 


E.  Gallier,  Deputy  sheriff  of  Coos  Co.,  Ooquille  City,  Oreg. 


©AYLORD  BROS.  Inc. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  C»lif. 


M31.5165 


